How many of you need to have them on every drum? (even if the rods already have metal washers on them)
I have to have them... I can tell right away when I play a snare or tom drum without them.
They seem to make tuning easier and also I feel that the sound of the drum is slightly affected by having that soft washer as a buffer between the tension rod and the hoop.
Am I Anal??? :)

I agree have to have em. I think it makes the rim shoots feel more "woody" so to speak. Adds a little cushion doesn't feel like your hitting the side of a steel drum. I also think it makes the rim shoots sound a little deeper

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"Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results each time" Einstein

Good, I'm not the only one who hears the snare rimshot difference and feels the tone of the toms when soft washers are on the drum.
I even install them on my bass drums.
I also hate that feeling when you can feel the metal on metal contact of a metal washer on a hoop while you are cranking up a rod on a snare.
Its like scratching a blackboard to me. :)

I have them for the reason that some of the rods won't turn as easy to tune as they do with the nylon or teflon ones. By the same token they can loosen just as easy but since I'm a nice gentle player this isn't a problem. I actually have them on all of my batter heads and also on the snare side heads on the snares.

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Less than 300 days until retirement.
Gretsch Renown

I'm opposite, I take them off. I do like how smooth it makes it feel for tuning. But I'm anal about wanting every vibration to pass to the shell and not get stopped somewhere. So who's more anal? I don't think I can tell by stick feel if a drum has them or not, never really tested for that. I'm impressed that you can tell a difference.
Man we do get into some minutia here don't we?

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The best way to do art, is to dispense with good and bad...and just get on with it.

I'm opposite, I take them off. I do like how smooth it makes it feel for tuning. But I'm anal about wanting every vibration to pass to the shell and not get stopped somewhere. So who's more anal? I don't think I can tell by stick feel if a drum has them or not, never really tested for that. I'm impressed that you can tell a difference.
Man we do get into some minutia here don't we?

It grew out of the lug gasket tests that I've seen here. I take them off too. No lug gaskets, no soft washers...Give me lugs on lacquer and metal on metal at the hoops for maximum vibration transference. Totally anal.

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The best way to do art, is to dispense with good and bad...and just get on with it.

I've only got them on one drum, and that is the cheapest new drum I've bought. All the rest have metal washers.
Can't say it makes a big difference to me, except that it just seems nicer having plastic as a buffer for threads that are tightened down.

I swear you guys are gonna make me try this. I've honestly never noticed a difference between metal washers or nylon washers. I do know I like to have A washer, but it's always been a metal one.

I'm with Bob on the disdain for suspension mounts. I think it's alot of unnecessary weight to be carrying around for not much gain. I've had perfectly resonating toms with mounts drilled into them, of both varieties: the Pearl "in the shell" and the Ludwig L-arm type.

It grew out of the lug gasket tests that I've seen here. I take them off too. No lug gaskets, no soft washers...Give me lugs on lacquer and metal on metal at the hoops for maximum vibration transference. Totally anal.

I've always had them on my snares, but am currently trying the Canopus leather washers on one snare. Not yet sure if the $15 was a total waste of money or not...

Dutch

I looked at the Canopus washers on YouTube. I don't think that they are a replacement for plastic.
They seem to be fragile and they will become chewed up quickly.
keep us posted on their quality and function.

I looked at the Canopus washers on YouTube. I don't think that they are a replacement for plastic.
They seem to be fragile and they will become chewed up quickly.
keep us posted on their quality and function.

Well, so far so good. I have them on a 14" x 5.5" Yamaha Birch Custom Absolute snare, will have a second practice night tonight, and all seems good. They are of course softer than the plastic washers, but are a bit rougher so seem to provide some grip to the rods.

But I'm not a hard hitter (we play jazzy folksy stuff), rarely ever do rimshots, and can't hear the difference between having these washers versus the plastic ones, so I guess it was $15 wasted. Ah well, now I know...

I have them installed on the top hoop of my 5x12, as it helps to keep it from detuning so quickly. They came standard on my Sensitone brass. I don't feel much of a difference in playing, but I retune a lot less, and that's good.

My Tama Starclassic Bubinga drums came from the factory with hard nylon washers and I liked them a lot. I equipped two of my other sets of drums with them and all of my snare drums. The Tama washers have just enough bite to them to enable intricate key tuning, but at the same time helps lock the tension rods in place without resorting to other measures.

I looked at the Canopus washers on YouTube. I don't think that they are a replacement for plastic.
They seem to be fragile and they will become chewed up quickly.
keep us posted on their quality and function.

Absolutely NOT fragile. They are more sturdy than I thought they would be too.
I've had them on a particular snare for 6-9 months now,and they seem like they hold tension well, & they haven't smushed real flat either. $15 is less than what I paid for the 40 pack. They're pricey, but they do seem to work a bit better than metal and nylon washers, however, I can't say "WOW!" either. Tightscrews work best for keeping a rod where it's set IMO anyway.

As for metal and nylon washers, I have both on different snares (nylon on everything else). They make about as much difference as when I change a head. Each head is going to sound different from the next, so who's to say?
It sounds like "my drum" so, that's where I'm at with them I guess :-)
BUT, I'm not one to argue if someone else can hear/feel the difference with THEIR stuff.

I agree about RIMS type mounts. Don't need them, but I prefer the smaller L-rod type mount. Yamaha's small hex rod never caused any problems either for me.

I bought like 6 packs of Tama nylon washers for my X7 kit and I will never ever everevereverever go back to metal washers, especially on a snare drum. There is nothing like freshly oiled tension rods and nylon washers when tuning new heads lol. Love it.